Robert De Niro

Are you talking to me? Are you talking to me? That's right, Bobby D. is chiefly responsible for bringing that little line into everyday vernacular. From his roles in The Godfather II to Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Awakenings and recently Meet the Parents he's won an oscar or two and his one of the best actors ever.

Appeal

Following the same theory that women love jerks, women are drawn to Mr. De Niro like men are drawn to a Victoria's Secret fashion show. Women love him not because he is rich, but because he symbolizes the rugged man they all dream about.

Success

Awards, acclaim, fame, glory...what hasn't he received? He has done some very bad movies, but always corrects himself with a breakout performance every so often. We just hope he doesn't go the route of Marlon Brando and disappear to a tropical island for a couple of years to gain 200 pounds.

Robert De Niro Biography

Robert De Niro Jr. was born in New York, NY, on the 17th of August, 1943. Born to a family of artists, his father, Robert De Niro Sr. was a Greenwich Village abstract expressionist, while his mother, Virginia Admiral, was a painter. De Niro, who was also known as "Bobby Milk" because he was so pale, was shy as a young boy. Rather than playing with the other children in his Little Italy neighborhood, he preferred reading novels.

Ironically, his first role on stage was as the cowardly lion in The Wizard of Oz at the age of 10. Getting over his shyness, De Niro hung out with the street kids and gangs from his neighborhood throughout most of his years as a teenager. Wanting to return to acting, De Niro performed in an onstage production of The Bear and continued touring for several years doing off-Broadway productions. While De Niro does seem like a natural at acting, he perfected his acting skills by studying with Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, like most of the other actors of his generation.

De Niro's first films, The Wedding Party, Greetings, and Hi, Mom! (all shot in the late 1960's), marked the beginning of his relationship with director Brian De Palma. 1973 was the year that Hollywood and movie audiences would start to notice one of the era's greatest movie actors. De Niro's role in Bang the Drum Slowly received critical acclaim and De Niro won the award for Best Actor by the New York Film Critics.

His second film project that year marked the beginning of another relationship with a director, this time Martin Scorsese, who has directed De Niro in 8 films since the film Mean Streets.

In 1974 came one of the roles for which De Niro would always be remembered, that of the young Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's classic The Godfather, Part II. This was the role that made De Niro a superstar, earning him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and showing Hollywood his supreme acting capabilities. His role as the deranged Travis Bickle in Scorsese's Taxi Driver, further emphasized his talent. While receiving much critical acclaim, his "Are you talkin' to me?" line has become a classic movie quote.

In 1980, De Niro added a second Oscar to his mantle, this time for Best Actor for his performance as boxer Jake La Motta in Raging Bull. A plumber in the alternative film Brazil, a former violent Christian follower in The Mission and Al Capone in The Untouchables, all these films in the 1980's proved the actor's versatility.

The 1990's were split in terms of hits and misses in De Niro's career. While Goodfellas, Awakenings and Sleepers were successful, De Niro's roles in movies such as We're No Angels, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and The Fan made critics and audiences ask, "what was he thinking!?!" Playing a psychotic once again in Cape Fear in 1991, De Niro was frightfully convincing as the vengeful convict. He played a casino owner in Casino, co-starring Sharon Stone, and a bus driver in A Bronx Tale, again showing audiences his versatility.

Face to face with fellow legendary actor Al Pacino in Heat and an outstanding performance, he doesn't quite succeed in the film Ronin, which although has a fantastic car chase scene, does not quite make it as a high point in De Niro's career. Other notable roles in De Niro's films of the '90s include: Marvin's Room, Jackie Brown, Wag the Dog and Analyze This (both in more comedic roles), and Flawless. Great Expectations is worth seeing for Gwyneth Paltrow alone.

De Niro founded a production company called the Tribeca Film Center, with the goal of promoting New York film production. As for his love life, he was formerly married to Diahne Abbott, romantically linked to supermodel Naomi Campbell, and is presently divorced with his second wife, Grace Hightower.

De Niro is also the father of Elliott (whose mother is Grace Hightower); Aaron Kendrick and Julien Henry (twin sons of mother and ex-girlfriend, Toukie Smith); Raphael (whose mother is Diahnne Abbott); and daughter Dreena, who De Niro adopted from Diahnne Abbott.